Making this sabbatical work means Peter has to pretty-much pull a full-time paycheck while he's in America. -- which means this time overseas is what a sabbatical is supposed to be: an opportunity to step outside of my regular duties and gain perspective through research or other edifying experiences. The word sabbatical is etymologically related to the word "sabbath" and unfortunately there is not much sabbath-like in the grueling day-to-day of my life here. There are no commuter trains in Nashville. Busses are unreliable. And during my 15 years in Japan, I somehow allowed my driver's license to expire. So I get around by bicycle. Every day is a physical exertion that my 44-year-old body had grown unaccustomed to. For the first three months of my time in Nashville, I worked full time, teaching English at Brick Church College Prep (http://www.brickchurchcollegeprep.org/), a school that is referred to in common parlance as a “turn-around” school. In previous years, the school had failed to meet certain testing standards, and so LEAD Public Schools (a special non-profit entity provided for under “charter-school” statutes that have become popular in many American states) was allowed by the school board to take over Brick Church Middle School grade-by-grade over the past four years, and implement a new regime. In the year that I was hired, the Brick Church turn-around was complete. Fifth through eighth grades at Brick Church College Prep were all being run by LEAD Public Schools. I was hired as an employee — not of Metropolitan Nashville Publish Schools — but of LEAD Public Schools. Was this turn around a success? That was an open question during my time at Brick Church, and it's a question that I want to come back to a lot in this blog. This very brief chapter in my Nashville experience was powerful and full of colorful characters that I am looking forward to exploring in depth, along with other important experiences that I am having here. But blog entries are supposed to be pithy, so for now, I am going to finish by giving two different answers to this question: “Did Brick Church College Prep represent to me an example of exalting the teaching profession?” YES BECAUSE … they committed to a shared curriculum, Engage NY (https://www.engageny.org), and then cultivated a culture of collaboration where an Instructional Coach (for each content area), the Dean of Instruction (for the school), and the Director of Instruction for LEAD Public Schools built and maintained systems and habits of accountability with all of the teachers — which allowed the curriculum to evolve and adapt to circumstances. When teachers are allowed to grow the curriculum themselves rather than having it imposed upon them, that exalts the teaching profession. NO BECAUSE … whenever a need emerged to evolve or adapt to circumstances, the general view at LEAD Public Schools was that something had gone wrong in execution — something was wrong with us, of course, because for damn sure, we were not going to blame the kids. Engage NY is a masterpiece of alpha-to-omega curriculum conceptualization. Anyone getting into the teaching profession should become familiar with if not this curriculum, at least curriculum like this. But we need always to remember that exalted teachers and inspired students (not supposedly flawless curriculum) are what make schools great. Dream big for your kids.  But then find them where they are and meet them where they are. AND NO BECAUSE … the imperative that we follow the curriculum, “hit the standards,” and gather the data in such a way as to make the case that we are doing our jobs properly meant that we did our jobs not so well as we could have done, and meant that we had to consciously aspire to less than we all knew we ought to be. AND YES BECAUSE … the actual teachers that I taught with at Brick Church College Prep were amongst the most sincere, most inspired, most talented people I know, and strove constantly to push each other to do better and be better. ... to be continued.